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Whoops – I got busy for a while there. A long while! Let’s continue the lists, though, with my final entry. Honorary Mention to David Brent & Michael Scott, Chuck Bartowski, Larry David, Denny Crane, and Black Adder.

20. Greg House (Hugh Laurie), House

I’m a sucker for sarcasm, and Laurie delivers. I’m also not a huge fan of procedurals, and so whether it’s just me or not, I can’t help but feel that so much of his bile is aimed at the genre itself, and at the expectations of heroism, functionality, and so forth. If only the staff of Grey’s Anatomy had a date with Dr. House.

19. Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda), M*A*S*H

The womanizing is kind of pat and tiring, but behind it is a remarkable charisma. If people watched the show and did so for so long, I’d bet that a large reason is Alda’s ability to grab and maintain interest. He also managed to sell the hardship and tragedies of M*A*S*H with subtlety, never letting it become just another happy-happy sitcom even while being the source of such happy-happy-ness.

18. Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), Twin Peaks

MacLachlan manages a hard feat in Twin Peaks, playing his character in a way that makes him both a point of entry into the profoundly bizarre world of Twin Peaks, and someone who is no less profoundly bizarre in his own way.

17. Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens), The Pee Wee Herman Show

Simply put, is there any more fucked up character on television who is so enjoyable? A great hybrid between kids performer and drug-induced, crazed indy character, Pee Wee’s kind of awesome. Read more…